Putin’s plan also includes the Baltic states, but the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO will make it much more difficult / Article

“The reality is that if Putin succeeds in achieving his goals in Ukraine, he will not stop in Ukraine. The next target will be Moldova, then Georgia, and finally the Baltic states,” believes Rasmussen.

“But this project has become much more complicated for him, because after Finland and Sweden join NATO, the Baltic Sea will become a NATO sea. Therefore, the protection of the three Baltic states will now be much easier and more effective. If we wanted to, we could block all entry and exit from Russia through St. Petersburg.”

Rasmussen concludes that The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO considered Putin’s “strategic defeat”.

“He has said many times that he will react if NATO moves closer to Russia’s borders. Now, with the accession of Finland, he has gained another 1,300 km of borders with NATO. He wanted less NATO, but he got more NATO.”

Rasmussen is a former Prime Minister of Denmark who served as Secretary General of NATO from 2009 to 2014.

Looking back, Rasmussen admits that the West reacted too gently to Russia’s attack on Georgia and the annexation of Crimea, thus encouraging Putin to new military adventures.

“We sent the wrong signal to Putin: both after the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and after the invasion of Ukraine in 2014. He decided that he would be able to seize the territory of neighboring countries without any consequences.”

Rasmussen sharply criticized the French president Statements by Emmanuel Macronthat we should not “humiliate Russia” and give Putin the opportunity to “save face”.

“Macron’s statements were catastrophic. They created the possibility that we are approaching a new world order, where the rule of law is not the rule, but the rule of the strongest. If Putin can seize Ukrainian territory with impunity, that’s terrible, because what will come after that?”

“It also sends a very bad signal to China, for example. The Chinese are watching the development of the situation in Ukraine very carefully. If Putin succeeds in seizing Crimea and perhaps Donbass as well, consolidating these gains with a peace treaty, China could perceive this as an invitation to seize Taiwan by force.”

CONTEXT:

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to start invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. Putin claimed that NATO was going to use Ukraine as a springboard for aggression against Russia, although there was no evidence for these claims. Ukraine believes that Putin’s real goal is to destroy Ukrainian statehood and bring the territory under Moscow’s control.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has caused a general condemnation of the international communityagainst Russia more and more sanctions are introduced. Many western companies have decided to leave the Russian market.

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